Former-Gangster-Turned-Pastor Spends 1 Million yuan to Save Abandoned Babies

Pastor Yu's family and his two adopted children, Tian'en and Tianxin
1/2Pastor Yu's family and his two adopted children, Tian'en and Tianxin(photo: gospeltime.net)
 An adopted boy Tian'en who suffered from thalassemia is receiving treatment.
2/2 An adopted boy Tian'en who suffered from thalassemia is receiving treatment. (photo: gospeltime.net)
By Josiah LiFebruary 16th, 2021

"At the orphanage, I held him in my arms and prayed. While I prayed, I was moved by the Holy Spirit: 'This is your inheritance.' " Pastor Yu Pandong, a pastor in Sanya, China's southernmost Hainan Province, recalled the first scene vividly when he adopted his son Tian'en. After he visited the orphanage, Yu went home to pray and discuss his wife and eldest daughter. The family unanimously decided to give the abandoned baby, about seven or eight months old, a home. 

After the adoption procedures, Pastor Yu and his family began to try their best to treat their adopted son Tian'en, who suffered from thalassemia. It took nearly four years and cost more than 1 million yuan. Thankfully, his son had a successful bone marrow transplant and has now recovered.

When Tian'en was adopted, his church had just finished building the gathering place his family donated much money into. In the face of his son's illness, which was highly money-consumed, he was under tremendous pressure. At first, people said many nasty things, "this child is going to die, why are you still accepting him into your home?" "This is the child you had with your mistress, right?" But because of his confidence in the spirit, "This is your inheritance," he proceeded with it.

"When I first saw him, his stomach was stiff, his liver and spleen were stiff, and there were only 20 grams of blood left in his body." Pastor Yu told the story of his son's treatment. On August 1, 2016, Tian'en was welcomed into their home. Since then, his blood had to be replenished every month; the bone marrow transplantation matching was successful twice. On September 3, 2019, his son underwent a bone marrow transplant. 

To take care of Tian'en, who was operated upon, the three Yu family members put in all their efforts for a whole year; the eldest daughter also resigned to help. Speaking of the experience of the surgery, Pastor Yu opened a Koudaibao (KDB) account on his mobile phone to record details of his son's life: "It was during chemotherapy. Other children undergoing chemotherapy could not eat, but my son ate very well. The transplant operation was carried out perfectly. He was finally coming out from the surgical ward... " 

His son recovered, and many people saw God's blessing. Pastor Yu said that he believed God gives the best, and even if his son eventually left the world, he would not regret it. "I want my son to know that we will not abandon him," he said.

In 2017, Yu's family adopted Tianxin, a daughter who had a malignant tumor. At first, she had tumors in her head, ear, nerve, and face. She had an operation and removed 2 / 3 of the tumors; after the operation, her mouth was crooked. Later, thanks to the brothers and sisters' intercession, Tianxin's tumor was cured, and her mouth was restored to normal. 

Dr. Huang, the director of Pediatrics at the hospital where Tian'en and Tian Xin first received treatment, talked about some of their situations at that time. Tian'en had severe thalassemia; thalassemia is an innate illness, which generally happens in Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and other southern beachfront regions. At that time, Tian'en regularly came for blood transfusion. Tianxin suffered from maxillofacial hemangioma and was abandoned in our hospital. She later suffered facial nerve damage during the operation. Afterward, Tianen and Tianxin were transferred to other big hospitals for treatment. Director Huang said that Pastor Yu is a kind-hearted person. His family treats Tianen and Tianxin like their own children. When she learned that Pastor Yu would adopt Tianxin, he asked him whether he would also adopt Tianxin after he had adopted Tianen, who was seriously ill. For the sake of life, Pastor Yu chose adoption.

Pastor Yu spent all the savings he got from the restaurant he opened earlier to treat the adopted children. He said that it was only by God's grace that he could live in this way and said He was a real prodigal son. 

He used to be part of a "reckless society" in Northeast China, which was a gang of people who wandered about without clear direction, breaking the law. He was quite famous, together with his younger brothers. He once cut off one of his fingers to mend his ways. 1997 was a turning point in his life. He once drank about 500g of white wine after drinking. He brought out a knife to cut someone, and the knife flew out. Otherwise, the consequences could not be imagined. At that time, his mother had been praying for him. 

After this experience, he was determined to believe in God, but he was not sure whether He existed or not. He made a promise to God that as long as he made money in business, he would trust Him. Later, he made a lot of business money, but he forgot to fulfill God's promise.

He set up a dumpling processing factory and put all his savings, including the money he borrowed, into it and lost all his money. At this time, the friends who once praised him were far away from him, but the brothers and sisters in the church often visited him.

The brothers and sisters didn't do any significant thing either. They just brought him some rice and vegetables and said these heartwarming words. "When you were in trouble, we gave you to eat, always remember. They were not deceitful, which was what I sincerely sought, "said Pastor Yu. The love of these brothers and sisters was like a match, which ignited his faith. "In 2000, I officially followed the Lord. The love of brothers and sisters is indescribable and sought no compensation, so I want to do it to the poor. " 

After that, Pastor Yu preached following Jesus' teaching to "Do to the least of my brothers" and used his own money and that of the church mainly to help those who could not afford to eat or visit a doctor...

"As a shepherd, if I don't do it, can I ask my fellow workers, brothers, and sisters to do it? If you set an example, the sheep will follow ."Pastor Yu said that their church's current energy is mainly used to help believers in need, and the next step is to go to the unbelievers to listen to and be sensitive to their problems. 

In terms of helping others, Pastor Yu preached that life is more important than money. A woman was once hit by a car and was seriously injured. She lost a lot of blood. About Twenty to thirty people were by the roadside, but no one dared to help her. Seeing this, Pastor Yu asked everyone to help carry the injured lady to the car. He also asked the police to help clear the way and sent the injured lady to the hospital in time. The injured lady called her family from the car. It turned out that the husband of the lady was a state official. After Pastor Yu handed her over to her family, he left without leaving his name and covered the expenses of washing the car. Pastor Yu said that there are few evil people were few. If they can save a life, they would still help if they were harmed in the process.

Pastor Yu believes that obedience and following God's word is a straight line of faith. He doesn't want to take a detour. He hopes to live for the Lord like Paul, who s illuminated. 

Seeing the change in Pastor Yu's life, many of his family members and former friends believed in the Lord, and some even took the path of service. People who knew him exclaimed, "It is divine that this boy can believe in the Lord!" 

When the writer talked with Pastor Yu, his son played happily with the children and showed no severe illness signs. Yu said that he hoped his children would become preachers, establish a good relationship with God, remember his blessings, and help more disabled children in the future.

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